Controlling delivery of notifications in real-time communications based on communication channel state

ABSTRACT

A critical notification is reliably delivered to at least one participant in a real-time communication session. A candidate delivery channel is selected, and a set of one or more communication state variables associated with the candidate delivery channel are identified. Current values associated with the communication state variables and determined, and a determination is made as to whether the current values associated with the communication state variables indicate that the notification can currently be reliably delivered using the candidate delivery channel. If the notification cannot currently be reliably delivered using the candidate delivery channel, an alternative delivery option is selected that may include using an alternative delivery channel and/or delaying delivery of the notification.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to real-time communicationand/or collaboration systems, and more specifically to a method andsystem for controlling delivery of notifications in real-timecommunications based on delivery channel state.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is often desirable to deliver a notification to a computer systemuser that is currently involved in a real-time communication session.However, in existing systems, it may be difficult to determine whetherthe remote user will be able to receive the notification at the time itis generated. This problem arises in part due to the fact that existingsystems may not operate to effectively determine whether thecommunication channel to the remote user has a current state that wouldmake it unlikely that the notification would be effectively delivered.As a result, a time critical notification, and/or a notificationrelating to the current real-time communication session, may be senteven though the current state of the communication channel over whichthe notification is transferred makes it unlikely that the notificationwill be effectively received.

Various specific aspects of the state of a user's client system mayprevent a notification from being received. For example, in the case ofan audible notification, such as a sound or portion of speech, deliverymay be prevented because the audio output for the recipient user'sclient device or system is currently in a “muted” state. The muted statemay be the result of the user having set the audio output level on theirclient device to an inaudible level (e.g. “0”), for example bymanipulating a graphical control in their system's user interface (e.g.lowering a virtual slider, clicking on or otherwise selecting a “mute”checkbox or the like, etc.), by manipulating a mechanical button orswitch on their device (e.g. a “mute” button or the like), or using someother specific technique. If a critical audible notification isgenerated for a user when the audio output of their client device ismuted, the notification may be “played” by the user's client device, butno sound is actually generated, and the notification is accordingly notdelivered.

In the case of a visual notification, such as a change made within theuser's graphical user interface, delivery may be prevented because theapplication window containing the visual notification is not currentlyvisible. The application window of the visual notification may notcurrently be visible because it is obscured by another applicationwindow. If a critical visual notification is generated for a user whenanother graphical object is located over the location of notificationwithin the user interface, the visual notification is not visible, andthe notification is accordingly not delivered.

The delivery of various specific types of critical audible or visiblenotifications may be prevented by the current state of the communicationchannel. An example of an important audio notification in this regard isa recording notification informing a user that a phone call they areparticipating in is currently being recorded. Such notifications may belegally required in various jurisdictions (e.g. countries, individualstates in the United States, etc.) having laws requiring thatparticipants in telephone calls be alerted to the fact that a recordingof the call is being made. The specific alert requirements vary acrossjurisdictions, and may include requiring a verbal notification that thecommunication is being recorded, playing of a periodic beep tone, and/orother requirements. Examples of important visual notifications in thisregard include notifications relating to the real-time communicationsession itself, such as visual notifications indicating that aparticipant wishes to make a comment or ask a question in the session.

It would accordingly be desirable to have a new automated solution thatcan more reliably provide critical notifications to participants in areal-time communication session.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To address the above described and other shortcomings of previoussystems, a solution is disclosed that more reliably deliversnotifications to participants in a real-time communication session. Thedisclosed system determines the state of the communication channel to beused to deliver the notification. If the disclosed system determinesthat the current state of the communication channel would preventreliable delivery of the notification, then an alternative deliveryoption is selected such as using an alternative delivery channel and/ordelaying delivery of the notification. If the current state of thecommunication channel would not prevent reliable delivery of thenotification, then the notification is delivered using thatcommunication channel.

The disclosed system may operate to reliably deliver audible and/orvisible notifications. For example, in the case of an audiblenotification, the disclosed system may operate to check the state of anaudio communication channel to be used to deliver the notification. Suchchecking of the audio communication channel may include checking whetherthe audio output on the client system of the destination user for thenotification is currently muted. If so, the disclosed system may selectan alternative notification delivery channel, such as a visualcommunication channel that may be available to deliver a visual version(e.g. text) of the audible notification to the destination user. Thedisclosed system may further determine the current state of thealternative communication channel, in order to find out whether it cancurrently be used to reliably deliver the notification to thedestination user. If the state of the alternative communication channelindicates that it can reliably be used, then the notification may beconveyed to the destination user through it.

The alternative delivery option may further include or be made up ofdelaying delivery of the notification until the current state of aselected communication channel indicates that it can reliably be used todeliver the notification.

In the case of a visible notification, checking the state of a visualcommunication channel may, for example, include determining a currentdisplay state of the destination user's client system. Such a displaystate may include an indication of whether a graphical user interfacewindow within which the notification would be displayed is currentlyobscured by any other windows in the user interface.

Various specific types of notifications may be delivered through thedisclosed system. For example, audible notifications may be deliveredsuch as recording notifications that must be sent to participants in areal-time communication session to notify the participants that theaudio and/or visual content of the communication session is currentlybeing recorded. In this regard, embodiments of the disclosed system mayprovide recording notifications with regard to the recording of thecontent of various specific types of real-time communication sessions,including communication sessions based on audio communication channels(e.g. VoIP calls), as well as communication sessions providing bothshared audio and shared visual data (e.g. shared video and/or graphicalinformation), such as Web conferences and the like.

Visual notifications that may reliably be delivered using the disclosedsystem include notifications relating to participants in a currentreal-time communication session. Such notifications may indicate that aspecific session participant has indicated that they have a question, orwish to make a comment. For example, such visual notifications mayinclude or consist of visual changes in the display of a graphicalobject (e.g. an icon or the like) associated with the participant, andcontained in a user interface window associated with the session.

In one embodiment, in response to a determination that a communicationsession is being recorded, and in response to a determination that arecording notification is required for one or more participants in thesession, a candidate delivery channel for the notification is selected.For example, a default or initial candidate delivery channel may be thesame as the primary communication channel for the communication session(e.g. the VoIP session itself for a VoIP call, or one of the voicechannel or video channel for a Web conference). The system determines aset of one or more relevant communication state variables for thecandidate delivery channel, such as communication device and/orparticipant state variables. For example, the relevant communicationdevice state variables for a candidate VoIP session over which a VoIPcall is being made may include client system state variables indicatingwhether the audio output on a participant's VoIP device (e.g. VoIP phoneand/or client computer system) is currently muted, and/or session statevariables indicating whether the VoIP call is currently on hold, and/orother specific communication device state variables.

The relevant communication state variables for a candidate deliverychannel may additionally include participant state variables, such asthe current on-line status of a participant (e.g. the on-line “presence”status of the participant). For example, an on-line status of “away” mayresult in determination that a participant is not currently able toreceive a visually conveyed recording notification or the like. Theidentities (i.e. variable names or the like) of the relevantcommunication variables for a given communication channel may, forexample, be retrieved from a centrally stored or distributed databaseassociating relevant variables with communication channel types or thelike.

The disclosed system reads and checks the current values of the relevantcommunication state variables for the candidate communication channel.The current values of the relevant communication state variables may,for example, be read at a shared server system, and/or at one or moreclient computer systems or communication devices associated withindividual participants. For example, state variables indicating acurrent “muted” state of an audio subsystem in a client device, orindicating the current state of a session underlying a VoIP call, may beautomatically maintained and accessed either at a shared server system,and/or distributed across participating client systems in a peer-to-peerembodiment. Similarly, the checking of the current values of therelevant communication state variables may also be performed at a sharedserver system, and/or at one or more client computer systems orcommunication devices associated with individual participants.

Based on the current values of the relevant communication statevariables for the candidate communication channel, the disclosed systemdetermines whether the notification can currently be reliably deliveredthrough the candidate communication channel. If so, the notification isimmediately delivered using that communication channel. Otherwise,responsive to a determination that the notification cannot be reliablydelivered through the candidate communication channel, the disclosedsystem selects an alternative delivery strategy. The specificalternative delivery strategy selected may, for example, be responsiveto user preference or administrator defined configuration settings.

The alternative delivery strategy may include options such as 1)selecting an alternative communication channel and either immediatelyusing the alternative channel to deliver the notification or determiningand checking the values of the relevant communication variables for thealternative channel to see if the notification can be reliably deliveredthrough it, and/or 2) delaying the delivery of the recordingnotification until the communication state variable values indicate thatthe notification can be reliably delivered to the participant using thecandidate delivery channel. For example, in option 2), the disclosedsystem may operate to periodically check the values of the relevantcommunication state variables until their values indicate that therecording notification can be reliably delivered using the candidatedelivery channel. In option 1), the disclosed system may operate toselect an alternative communication channel based on user preferences oradministrator configuration settings. For example, in the case wheredelivery could not be reliably made to a participant using a candidatecommunication channel that relied on audio output (e.g. a VoIP session)because the audio output on the client device for the participant iscurrently muted, a visual communication channel may be selected and usedas an alternative delivery channel (e.g. resulting in a visual displayof the notification in the participants display device).

Thus there is disclosed an automated solution that more reliablyprovides a notification such as a recording notification, to a user suchas a participant in a real-time communication session.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present invention,reference is now made to the appended drawings. These drawings shouldnot be construed as limiting the present invention, but are intended tobe exemplary only.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one or more communication channelsthrough which participants in a real-time communication sessioncommunicate in an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing hardware and/or software components inan illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing steps performed during operation of anillustrative embodiment of the disclosed system;

FIG. 4 is a first example of a visual recording notification generatedby an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system;

FIG. 5 is a second example of a visual recording notification generatedby an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system; and

FIG. 6 shows a third example of a visual recording notificationgenerated by an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

While for purposes of explanation the following description makesreference to operation of one or more embodiments providing specifictypes of notifications, including notifications regarding recordings ofreal-time communication sessions and/or notifications indicating that asession participant has a question or comment, those skilled in the artwill recognize that the disclosed system is not limited to providing anyspecific type of notification. Accordingly, the disclosed system may beembodied or configured to reliably provide notifications of anyappropriate type and having any appropriate content as may be needed fora given use, application or deployment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one or more communication channelsthrough which participants in a real-time communication sessioncommunicate in an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system. Asshown in FIG. 1, Session Participant A 10 communicates with SessionParticipant B 12 over one or more Communication Channels 16. TheCommunication Channels 16 support one or more real-time communicationsessions between Participant A 10 and Participant B 12, such as, forexample, a voice call between Participant A 10 and Participant B 12,such as a VOIP (Voice over IP) or POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)call, and/or a Web Conference or the like in which Participant A 10 andParticipant B 12 are among the participating users simultaneouslysharing both audio and video data in real-time.

Participant A 10 and Participant B 12 each use a client device tocommunicate over the Communication Channels 16, through a CommunicationNetwork 14 that may include one or more server systems and/or networkingdevices. The Communication Channels 16 may include audio channels,providing voice communications between Participant A 10 and ParticipantB 12, and/or visual communication channels, over which visual and/orgraphical information is shared between Participant A 10 and ParticipantB 12.

During operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and as furtherdescribed below, the disclosed system operates to use at least one ofthe Communication Channels 16 to reliably deliver a notification toParticipant A 10 and/or Participant B 12. Examples of the deliverednotification may relate to the recording of a real-time communicationsession between Session Participant A 10 and Session Participant B 12.Such notifications may, for example, include an indication thatrecording of the real-time communication session has started, anindication that the recording of the real-time communication session hasbeen paused, and/or an indication that the recording of the real-timecommunication session has stopped.

Other examples of the delivered notification may relate to actions ofthe participants in the real-time communication session. Suchnotifications may, for example, include an indication that a specificone of the participants wants to ask a question or has a comment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing hardware and/or software components inan illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system. As shown in FIG. 2,Participant A 10 is associated with and uses a Client System 13. Forpurposes of illustration, Client System 13 is shown including an AudioSubsystem 15 (e.g. including a speaker or speakers, or headphones or thelike for outputting audio to Participant A 10), a Display Device 17 fordisplaying a Graphical User Interface (GUI) 18 through which graphicsand/or video may be displayed to Participant A 10, Notification DeliveryClient Logic 20, and Communication Application(s) Client Logic 21.Client System 13 is communicably connected (e.g. via the CommunicationNetwork 14 shown in FIG. 1) to at least one server system, shown in FIG.2 as Server System 22.

For purposes of illustration, Server System 22 is shown includingCommunication Application(s) Server Logic 23, Notification DeliveryServer Logic 24, Communication State Variable Identities for AssociatedCommunication Channels 26, Communication State Variable Values 28, UserPreferences 30, and Configuration Settings 32.

As further shown in FIG. 2, Participant B is associated with and uses aClient System 40. For purposes of illustration, Client System 40 isshown including an Audio Subsystem 42 (e.g. including a speaker orspeakers, or headphones or the like for outputting audio to ParticipantB 12), a Display Device 44 for displaying a Graphical User Interface(GUI) 46 through which graphics and/or video may be displayed toParticipant B 12, Notification Delivery Client Logic 48, andCommunication Application(s) Client Logic 49. The Client System 40 isalso communicably connected (e.g. via the Communication Network 14 shownin FIG. 1) to at least one server system, shown for purposes ofillustration in FIG. 2 as Server System 22.

During operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the disclosed systemoperates, for example responsive to and/or under the control ofNotification Delivery Client Logic 20, Notification Delivery ServerLogic 24 and/or Notification Delivery Client Logic 48, to reliablydeliver a notification to Participant A 10 and/or Participant B 12, suchas a recording notification indicating that audio and/or video databeing shared in a real-time communication session in which at leastSession Participant A 10 and Session Participant B 12 are participantsis currently being recorded. The notification may further indicate thatthe recording of the session has started, has been paused, and/or hasbeen stopped. Alternatively, the notification may be any other specifictype of notification, such as a visual notification to all sessionparticipants indicating that one of the session participants current hasa question or wishes to make a comment.

For example, in one embodiment, the notification may initially be anaudio notification, and the disclosed system determines whether theaudio output of a client device of a user to which the audionotification is to be delivered (e.g. Participant A 10 or Participant B12), is currently muted. The disclosed system operates in response todetermining that audio output of a participant's client device iscurrently muted by selecting a visual channel through which to deliver atext or graphical notification equivalent to the audio notification, andthen delivering the text or graphical notification to the sessionparticipants, as further described below.

Alternatively, in another embodiment, the notification may initially bea visual notification, and the disclosed system determines whether thedisplay state of a client device of a user to which the visualnotification is to be delivered (e.g. Participant A 10 or Participant B12) indicates that the window to be used to display the visualnotification is currently obscured by another window in the graphicaluser interface. The embodiment of the disclosed system operates inresponse to determining that the window to be used to display the visualnotification is currently obscured by another window in the graphicaluser interface by selecting a audio channel through which to deliver anaudible notification (e.g. sound and/or speech) equivalent to the visualnotification, and then delivering the audible notification to thesession participants, as further described below.

While for purposes of concise illustration only two session participantsand associated client systems are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, those skilledin the art will recognize that the disclosed system may be embodied suchthat any specific number of session participants may be reliablynotified using the disclosed system. Similarly, while for purposes ofconcise illustration only one server system is shown in FIG. 2, thedisclosed system may be embodied such that any specific number of serversystems are used to perform the operations described in association withthe Server System 22. In addition, while a client-server type ofembodiment is shown in the example of FIG. 2, the disclosed system mayalternatively be embodied in a peer-to-peer architecture, in which someor all of the operations described in association with the Server System22 are instead distributed among one or more of the various clientdevices.

The Client Systems 13 and 40 of FIG. 1 may include any specific type ofa computer system and/or intelligent electronic device, such as adesktop, laptop, or palmtop computer system, or a personal digitalassistant, cell phone, VoIP phone, traditional landline telephone (POTSphone), and/or other electronic device. Each of the Client Systems 13and 40 may include or control a display device (i.e. Display Device 17and Display Device 44 respectively) that is capable of displaying agraphical user interface (i.e. GUI 18 and GUI 46 respectively) to thelocal users 10 and 12 of those systems, such as a liquid crystal display(LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT), interferometric modulator display (IMOD),light emitting diode (LED), or the like. Additionally, each of theClient Systems 13 and 40 of FIG. 1 may include one or more audio and/orvideo input devices, such as a microphone and/or camera (e.g. a Webcamor other type of video capture device), for receiving audio and/or videodata to be shared over a network among the participants in the real-timecommunication session.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the Notification DeliveryClient Logic 20 and 48 may be embodied using software or firmware, suchas computer application program code, operating system program code,middleware, and/or wholly or partly using digital hardware components,such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs),field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like, and/orcombinations of hardware and/or software or firmware. Those skilled inthe art will further recognize that the Client Systems 13 and 40 mayeach include one or more processors, and program storage, such asmemory, for storing program code executable on such processors (e.g.Notification Delivery Client Logic 20 and 48, as well as CommunicationApplication(s) Client Logic 21 and 49, and/or other application and/oroperating system program code), and other input/output devices and/orother external interfaces in addition to the Audio Subsystems 15 and 42,Display Devices 17 and 44, and audio and/or video input devices.

Server system 22 may also be embodied as any specific type of computersystem including one or more processors, and program storage, such asmemory, for storing program code executable on such processors (e.g.Communication Application(s) Server Logic 23, Notification DeliveryServer Logic 24, and/or other application and/or operating systemprogram code), as well as for storing data and/or databases or the likesuch as Communication State Variable Identities for AssociatedCommunication Channels 26, Communication State Variable Values 28, UserPreferences 30, and/or Configuration Settings 32. Server system 22 mayfurther include a number of input/output devices and/or other externalinterfaces. Those skilled in the art will further recognize thatNotification Delivery Server Logic 24 may also be embodied usingsoftware or firmware, such as computer application program code,operating system program code, middleware, and/or wholly or partly usingdigital hardware components, such as application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like,and/or combinations of hardware and/or software or firmware.

Communication State Variable Identities for Associated CommunicationChannels 26, Communication State Variable Values 28, User Preferences30, and/or Configuration Settings 32 may be embodied using any specifictype of database or the like, and may be accessible to and/or containedwithin the Communication Application(s) Server Logic 23 and/orNotification Delivery Server Logic 24. For example, Communication StateVariable Identities for Associated Communication Channels 26 may be adatabase associating the names of relevant state variables withcommunication channels, so that the values of such relevant statevariables can be checked to determine whether a candidate communicationchannel can be reliably used to deliver a recording notification to agiven participant or participants. For example, Communication StateVariable Identities for Associated Communication Channels 26 mayassociate an audio communication channel with a set of one or morecommunication state variables indicating whether an audio subsystem fora client device associated with a given participant is currently muted,and/or whether the call (VoIP or POTS) is currently on hold, and/orother relevant state variables whose values indicate whether theparticipant is currently able to hear an audio notification providedthrough the audio channel.

As a further example, Communication State Variable Identities forAssociated Communication Channels 26 may associate a visualcommunication channel with a set of one or more communication statevariables having values indicating whether a window object to be used todisplay a visual notification within the graphical user interface iscurrently visible.

Communication State Variable Identities for Associated CommunicationChannels 26 may further associate a visual or audio communicationchannel with one or more participant state variables whose valuesindicate whether a given participant is currently “present” at his orher computer system, and accordingly whether the participant iscurrently able to see a visual notification presented through a visualcommunication channel, or hear an audio notification presented throughan audio communication channel.

Communication State Variable Values 28 may be a database of currentvalues for specific communication state variables. Communication StateVariable Values 28 may be periodically maintained or updated as needed,for example by Communication Application(s) Server Logic 23,Notification Delivery Server Logic 24, or other software executing onthe Server System 22. For example, values for device state variablesreflecting the current states of specific client systems may, forexample, be obtained as needed by the Notification Delivery Server Logic24 from Notification Delivery Client Logic 20 and/or 48.

Values for participant state variables reflecting online presence ofspecific participants may be obtained as needed by the NotificationDelivery Server Logic 24 through an instant messaging service orapplication or the like.

User Preferences 30 includes indications of user preference settingsrelating to providing recording notifications. User Preferences 30 maybe used to store preference settings obtained from various specificusers and indicating, for example, whether a given user prefers toreceive a certain type of notification (e.g. a recording notification)via a specific type of visual display (e.g. a pop-up window or thelike), via a text message, or via a delayed audio message, in the eventthat a necessary recording or other notification cannot be delivered tothe user via the audio channel at a particular time, such as the time arecording is started of a real-time communication session in which theuser is a participant (e.g. because the disclosed system has determinedthat the audio subsystem on the user's client device is muted at thattime).

Configuration Settings 32 include indications of administrator definedsettings that may additionally or alternatively control how recordingnotifications are delivered by the disclosed system. ConfigurationSettings 32 may, for example, indicate how participants are to beprovided with notifications (e.g. a recording notification) when adefault communication channel (e.g. an audio channel) cannot reliably beused to deliver the notification (e.g. by using the audio channel afterdelaying notification delivery until the audio channel can be usedreliably, by using a visual channel through which a visual notificationis immediately presented to the participant at the beginning of thesession, etc.).

The Communication Application(s) Server Logic 23 and CommunicationApplication(s) Client Logic 21 and 49 may include and/or support anyspecific number and/or type of communication applications operable tosupport real-time communication sessions between Participant A 10 andParticipant B 12. For example, Communication Application(s) Server Logic23 and Communication Application(s) Client Logic 21 and 49 may includeprogram code providing any specific type of VoIP application or protocolthrough which VoIP and/or POTS calls can be established betweenParticipant A 10 and Participant B 12, and accordingly may includetransmission technologies for delivery of voice communications over IPnetworks such as the Internet. In such an embodiment, real-timecommunication sessions between Participant A 10 and Participant B 12 maybe telephone calls transported via the Internet (VoIP calls), and/orPOTS calls transported via the public switched telephone network (PSTN).

For example, in an embodiment using VoIP service, the CommunicationApplication(s) Server Logic 23 and Communication Application(s) ClientLogic 21 and 49 operate to support an Internet telephone call betweenParticipant A 10 and Participant B 12 by converting analog voice signalsinput from the participants into digital format, andcompressing/translating such signals into Internet protocol (IP) packetsfor transmission between the participants over the Internet. In anembodiment in which POTS is used through the PSTN, the CommunicationApplication(s) Server Logic 23 and Communication Application(s) ClientLogic 21 and 49 operate to provide user control of POTS calls betweenParticipant A 10 and Participant B 12 by, for example, enablingParticipant A 10 and Participant B 12 to perform functions such asmuting of a POTS call through their respective GUIs (18 and 46).

Communication Application(s) Server Logic 23 and CommunicationApplication(s) Client Logic 21 and 49 may also include program codeproviding any specific type of Web conference or the like. Webconferencing provided by such an embodiment may accordingly includesimultaneous audio and video conferencing among the conferenceparticipants via the Internet, in which both video and audio informationare simultaneously shared in real-time among the conferenceparticipants. For example, Communication Application(s) Server Logic 23and Communication Application(s) Client Logic 21 and 49 may operate toprovide Web conferences including various specific types of live, onlinemeetings, training, and/or presentations via a network such as theInternet, during which live or streaming video in which full motionWebcam, digital video camera and/or multi-media files are transmitted tothe conference participants' client systems in real-time for display tothe participants. Similarly, such Web conferences may include slide showpresentations, in which slides (e.g. PowerPoint® or Keynote® slides)from a presenter participant are visually displayed by the participants'client systems, and the presenter may be provided markup tools and aremote mouse pointer to modify the display of the slides in real-time.IP audio may also be shared during such Web conferences, as well as asimultaneous text chat channel (e.g. instant messaging session) throughwhich text messages can be shared among some or all of the conferenceparticipants during the conference. The visual data shared among Webconference participants may further support screen sharing/desktopsharing/application sharing, in which conference participants can viewrespectively anything a presenter currently has shown on his or herdisplay screen, on his or her virtual desktop, or that is currentlybeing displayed by an application executing on the presenter's computer.

In one embodiment, the notification provided to Web conferenceparticipants through the disclosed system indicates that one of theparticipants has a question or wishes to make a comment. Such anotification may, for example, be made up of an icon or other graphicalobject, such as a pop-up window. The visual notification in such anembodiment may include any specific visual depiction or message, such asa visual depiction of a hand waving or the like. The disclosed systemmay determine from the communication channel state that the displaystate of one or more client systems indicates that another window, suchas a window providing a shared application to the conferenceparticipants, is currently obscuring the window to be used to providethe visual notification that a participant has a question or comment. Insuch a case, the disclosed system operates to select an alternativedelivery option to using a candidate visual communication channel todeliver the notification. Such an alternative may, for example, includeor consist of using an audio delivery channel to provide an audionotification (e.g. a sound or speech) indicating that a participant hasa question or comment, or delaying delivery of the visual notificationuntil the window to be used to deliver the visual notification is nolonger obscured.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing steps performed during operation of anillustrative embodiment of the disclosed system. The steps of FIG. 3may, for example, be performed by the Communication Application(s)Server Logic 23, Notification Delivery Server Logic 24, CommunicationApplication Client Logic 21 and 49, and/or Notification Delivery ClientLogic 20 and 48.

At step 60, the disclosed system determines that an event has occurredrequiring a notification. For example, at step 60, the disclosed systemmay determine that a real-time communication session is to be or isbeing recorded. For example, the disclosed system may operate to recordall real-time communication sessions, a randomly selected subset of allcalls, or specific real-time communication sessions that one or moreparticipants expressly request to be recorded, e.g. by selecting abutton, menu item or the like provided to the participants in agraphical user interface. Alternatively, the disclosed system maydetermine at step 60 that a session participant has selected (e.g.clicked on) a user interface object indicating that the participant hasa question or comment they would like to make within the communicationsession. A need for any other specific type of notification may bedetermined at step 60, such as a different type of audio notification ora visual notification.

Responsive to a determination at step 60, at step 62 the disclosedsystem determines that one or more of the participants in the real timecommunication session should receive the notification. For example, inthe case where at step 60 a determination was made that the real-timecommunication session is to be or is currently being recorded, at step62 the disclosed system determines whether one or more participants inthe communication session are to be provided with notificationsinforming them that the session is being recorded. For example, thedetermination at step 62 may be made responsive to configurationsettings or the like indicating that participants in certain geographiclocations (e.g. countries, states, or other legal jurisdictions), mustbe provided with recording notifications. When the disclosed systemdetermines that a session participant is located in such a location, adetermination is made at step 62 that the participant is to be provideda recording notification indicating that the session is being recorded.

At step 64, the disclosed system selects a candidate notificationdelivery channel for delivering the necessary notification. For example,a default notification delivery channel may initially be selectedconsisting of a shared audio channel over which a VoIP call or audio fora Web conference is being delivered to all participants, or some othershared communication channel, such as a visual communication channelproviding notifications through a GUI window associated with the Webconference application and displayed on each client system. Theselection at step 64 may be user specific, such that different channelsare selected as candidate notification delivery channels for differentparticipants in a given communication session, and where such differentchannels may accordingly be used to deliver recording notifications todifferent participants within the same communication session, forexample based on individual user preference settings or the like.

At step 66, the disclosed system identifies the relevant communicationstate variables, including potentially both client device statevariables and participant state variables, for the candidatenotification delivery channel selected at step 64. For example, thedetermination at step 66 may be made in response to the contents of theCommunication State Variable Identities for Associated CommunicationChannels 26 (FIG. 2) or the like. At step 68, the disclosed systemobtains current values for the set of communication state variablesdetermined at step 66, for example responsive to the Communication StateVariable Values 28 (FIG. 2) or the like.

Responsive to the current values determined at step 68, at step 70 thedisclosed system determines whether the candidate notification deliverychannel can reliably be used to deliver a recording notification. Forexample, in the case of a candidate notification delivery channel madeup of an audio channel (e.g. VoIP session for a VoIP call or Webconference), communication state variable values indicating that aparticipant's audio subsystem is currently muted, or that the candidatenotification delivery channel is currently on hold, the disclosed systemdetermines at step 70 that the candidate notification delivery channelcannot currently be used to reliably deliver the recording notification.Alternatively, in the case of a candidate notification delivery channelmade up of a visual channel, the disclosed system may determine that aGUI window associated with the visual communication channel is currentlyobscured by another GUI window.

In such a case, step 70 is followed by step 74, in which the disclosedsystem selects an alternative delivery option. For example, selecting analternative delivery option at step 74 might consist of or includechecking whether an audio notification (e.g. a recording notification)could reliably be delivered using a different communication channel(e.g. a visual communication channel). Alternatively, the selectionperformed at step 74 might consist of or include checking whether avisual notification (e.g. a notification indicating that a sessionparticipant has a question or comment they would like to add to orwithin the session) could reliably be delivered using an audiocommunication channel (e.g. as a sound or speech). Such checking may,for example, include performing steps 66, 68 and 70 for the otherchannel, to determine whether the notification could be reliablydelivered on the other channel. A next communication channel to bechecked may be selected at step 74 based on the communication channelscurrently available to the participant or participants to which thenotification is to be sent, and/or responsive to user preferences and/orsystem configuration settings.

Alternatively, at step 74, the delivery of the recording notificationmay be delayed. For example, at step 74 the disclosed system may wait apredetermined period of time, and then retry step 70 to determine if thevalues of the relevant communication state variables have changed toindicate that the candidate notification delivery channel can be used toreliably deliver the recording notification. Such delayed re-checkingmay be repeated periodically until the values of the relevantcommunication state variables change to indicate that the candidatenotification delivery channel can reliably be used (e.g. until thedevice state variable values change to indicate that the participant orparticipants' audio output is un-muted).

In another alternative configuration or embodiment, if the candidatenotification delivery channel is an audio channel, at step 74 thedisclosed system operates to automatically and immediately generate therecording notification through a visual communication channel, e.g. bygenerating a pop-up window or the like in the participants' userinterfaces informing them that the recording is being recorded, andfurther identifying the communication session that is being recorded.For example, the visual notification may include session identificationinformation such as the participant phone number or numbers throughwhich the session is operating, or the subject, topic, name and/ormoderator for a Web conference that is currently being recorded.

Similarly, if the candidate notification delivery channel is a visualchannel, at step 74 the disclosed system operates to automatically andimmediately generate an audio version of the notification through anaudio communication channel, e.g. by generating one or more specialtones or beeps, and/or by generating audio speech. The audionotification may include identification of the participant that has thequestion or comment (e.g. the participant's name), and other spoken text(e.g. “Bob has a question”).

In the event that at step 70 it is determined that the values of therelevant communication state variables indicate that the notificationcan reliably be delivered using the candidate notification deliverychannel, then step 70 is followed by step 72, in which the candidatedelivery channel is used to delivery the notification to one or moresession participants. For example, in the case where the candidatenotification delivery channel is a voice channel, at step 72 an audionotification would be broadcast to one or more session participants.Such an audio notification may, for example, include words such as “Forquality control purposes, this call is being recorded”, “For qualitycontrol purposes, this Web conference is being recorded”, or any otherspecific words notifying the participant or participants that thereal-time communication session is being recorded.

After repeated failures to determine a reliable notification deliverychannel, the disclosed system may provide a visual or audible warning oralert message to one or more session participants indicating that therecording notification could not be provided to one or more sessionparticipants identified in the message. Such an alert or message may,for example, be provided to a moderator of a Web conference orconference all, to a call initiator, or to all session participants.

FIG. 4 is a first example of a visual recording notification generatedby an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system. As shown in FIG.4, a visual recording notification 80 generated by the disclosed systemis made up of pop-up window displayed within the participant's graphicaluser interface. The recording notification 80 includes text identifyingthe communication session being recorded, for example displaying a phonenumber over which the call being recorded was made or received, whichaccordingly may be the participant's local VoIP phone number or a remotecaller's phone number. The recording notification further includes textinforming the participant that the session is being recorded.

FIG. 5 is a second example of a visual recording notification generatedby an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system. As shown in FIG.5, a visual recording notification 82 generated by the disclosed systemis made up of pop-up window displayed within the participant's graphicaluser interface. The recording notification 82 includes text identifyingthe communication session being recorded, for example displaying a topicand the name of a moderator of a Web conference being recorded. Therecording notification further includes text informing the participantthat the session is being recorded.

FIG. 6 shows a third example of a visual recording notificationgenerated by an illustrative embodiment of the disclosed system. Asshown in FIG. 6, an Instant Messaging User Interface 90 provided as partof a Web Conference includes a Message Entry Area 92, and a ChatTranscript Area 94. A visual recording notification 96 generated by thedisclosed system is made up of an instant message and/or other textprominently displayed within the Chat Transcript Area 94. The recordingnotification 96 includes text informing the participant that the WebConference is being recorded. While the example of FIG. 6 shows aninstant messaging user interface provided as part of a Web Conference,the disclosed system is not so limited. Accordingly, the visualrecording notification 96 may alternatively be provided by an embodimentof the disclosed system to a participant in a communication session thatdoes not include an instant messaging component, such as, for example, aVoIP phone call. In such an embodiment, the disclosed system mayinitiate an instant messaging session with the participant(s) in orderto provide the visual recording notification 96 to the participants. Insuch a case, the visual recording notification may include textidentifying the phone call or Web conference currently being recorded,such as one or more phone numbers involved in the call, a name of themoderator or a topic of the Web conference, and/or other sessionidentification information.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. Anycombination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized.The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium ora computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage mediummay be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specificexamples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage mediumwould include the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magneticstorage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In thecontext of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be anytangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or inconnection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, orother devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed onthe computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce acomputer implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

We claim:
 1. A system comprising: at least one processor and at leastone computer readable memory, said computer readable memory havingstored thereon program code for indicating to at least one user thatanother participant in a real-time communication session would like tomake a comment in said real-time communication session, said programcode including program code for determining whether a user interfacewindow in a graphical user interface in a client system associated withsaid user can currently be reliably used to indicate to said user thatsaid other participant in said real-time communication session wouldlike to make a comment in said real-time communication session, andprogram code for, responsive to a determination that said window cannotcurrently be reliably used to indicate to said user that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session would like to make acomment in said real-time communication session, audibly indicating tosaid user that said other participant in said real-time communicationsession would like to make a comment in said real-time communicationsession by generating an audio notification through an audio subsystemin said client system associated with said user.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein said program code for determining whether said user interfacewindow can currently be reliably used to indicate to said user that saidother participant in said real-time communication session would like tomake a comment is responsive to a current value of at least onecommunication state variable.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein saidcurrent value of said at least one communication state variableindicates whether said window is obscured by another user interfacewindow within said graphical user interface.
 4. The system of claim 2,wherein said current value of said at least one communication statevariable indicates whether a display device in said client systemassociated with said user is turned off.
 5. The system of claim 2,wherein said current value of said at least one communication statevariable indicates whether said user has a negative online presence. 6.The system of claim 1, wherein said real-time communication sessioncomprises a Web conference.
 7. The system of claim 1, furthercomprising: program code for determining that said other participant insaid real-time communication session would like to make said comment;and wherein said program code for determining whether said userinterface window in a graphical user interface in a client systemassociated with said user can currently be reliably used to indicate tosaid user that said other participant in said real-time communicationsession would like to make a comment is responsive to said determinationthat said other participant in said real-time communication sessionwould like to make a comment.
 8. The system of claim 7, furthercomprising: wherein said program code for determining that anotherparticipant in said real-time communication session would like to make acomment is responsive to program code for detecting that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session has selected agraphical object in a graphical user interface within said client systemassociated with said other participant.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein said audio notification includes identification of said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session who would like tomake a comment.
 10. A computer implemented method of indicating to atleast one user that another participant in a real-time communicationsession would like to make a comment in a real-time communicationsession, comprising: determining, whether a user interface window in agraphical user interface in a client system associated with said usercan currently be reliably used to indicate to said user that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session would like to make acomment in said real-time communication session; and responsive to adetermination that said window cannot currently be reliably used toindicate to said user that said other participant in said real-timecommunication session would like to make a comment in said real-timecommunication session, audibly indicating to said user that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session would like to make acomment in said real-time communication session by generating an audionotification through an audio subsystem in said client system associatedwith said user.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein said determiningwhether said user interface window can currently be reliably used toindicate to said user that said other participant in said real-timecommunication session would like to make a comment is responsive to acurrent value of at least one communication state variable.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein said current value of said at least onecommunication state variable indicates whether said window is obscuredby another user interface window within said graphical user interface.13. The method of claim 11, wherein said current value of said at leastone communication state variable indicates whether a display device insaid client system associated with said user is turned off.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein said current value of said at least onecommunication state variable indicates whether said user has a negativeonline presence.
 15. The method of claim 10, wherein said real-timecommunication session comprises a Web conference.
 16. The method ofclaim 10, further comprising: determining that said other participant insaid real-time communication session would like to make a comment; andwherein said determining whether said user interface window in agraphical user interface in a client system associated with said usercan currently be reliably used to indicate to said user that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session would like to make acomment is responsive to said determining that said other participant insaid real-time communication session would like to make a comment. 17.The method of claim 16, further comprising: wherein said determiningthat another participant in said real-time communication session wouldlike to make a comment is responsive to detecting that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session has selected agraphical object in a graphical user interface within said client systemassociated with said other participant.
 18. The method of claim 10,wherein said audio notification includes identification of said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session who would like tomake a comment.
 19. A computer program product, comprising: at least onenon-transitory computer readable storage medium, said computer readablestorage medium having stored thereon program code for indicating to atleast one user that another participant in a real-time communicationsession would like to make a comment, said program code includingprogram code for determining whether a user interface window in agraphical user interface in a client system associated with said usercan currently be reliably used to indicate to said user that said otherparticipant in said real-time communication session would like to make acomment in said real-time communication session, and program code for,responsive to a determination that said window cannot currently bereliably used to indicate to said user that said other participant insaid real-time communication session would like to make a comment insaid real-time communication session, audibly indicating to said userthat said other participant in said real-time communication sessionwould like to make a comment in said real-time communication session bygenerating an audio notification through an audio subsystem in saidclient system associated with said user.